Founded in 1938 by Otto Hertz, Scabal was originally a cloth merchant and supplier of fabrics. His successor is JP Thissen, who is assisted by his son Gregor Thissen, the third generation of the family owned business. Through the aquisition of fabric brand Wainshiell, Scabal traces a history back to the 18th century.
Today Scabal employs almost 600 staff worldwide. Over the years Scabal has evolved into a producer of top quality fabrics to the most prestigious tailors and textile businesses around the world and as a manufacturor of the finest suits, jackets and shirts for the most demanding men. Since 2009 we opened several Scabal stores to be able to show the full range of apparel, including our accessories range.

1539

Scabal’s mill in historic Huddersfield, the cradle of English cloth, stopped grinding wheat, and began to
work with cloth. This was in...

Scabal’s mill in historic Huddersfield, the cradle of English cloth, stopped grinding wheat, and began to
work with cloth. This was in response to rising taxes on grain, and a large amount of weavers arriving
in Yorkshire during the Hundred Years War.

Initially working as fullers, a job that involved stretching the woolen fibres by hand, looms were soon installed.
Nearly 500 years later, we are still making the world’s finest fabrics at the same location.

1799

With the Industrial Revolution in England gathering pace, Scabal’s Huddersfield mill moved with technological
change, and started to...

With the Industrial Revolution in England gathering pace, Scabal’s Huddersfield mill moved with technological
change, and started to mechanise some of the weaving process.

This allowed for finer cloths to be crafted, but required constant monitoring and human judgment. Our
process in this regard remains largely unchanged, with expert weavers guiding every step of the process.